King Boo’s Identity
by Blueshade Seraphim
Summary: King Boo is much more complex than your regular Mario baddie... namely Bowser. But who is he? Was he someone we knew when he was alive? Join me in a discussion regarding this paranormal powerhouse’s origins.


Hey there, Serafans! Blueshade here. After completing my last story regarding Luigi's Mansion 3's new setting, it got me thinking about something: King Boo. Be honest with yourself: how much can you say with 100% certainty that you know about the guy? Mario games are always very direct and straightforward in their story, but King Boo? He's a complete enigma. I mean yes, everyone knows he's the leader of the boos, no one would debate that. But our spectral friend here is much more fleshed out than his other "king" equivalents, like King Bob-omb, or Goomboss. He's not your stereotypical, "get defeated by Mario, and off they go" sort of enemy. He has character. Goals. And is arguably the most successful Mario antagonist to date. Catching the plucky plumber on the first try. So what I want to answer today is who was he when he was alive? And it seems easy to say he doesn't have any origin story. He's a ghost because he's a ghost. That's how Mario games operate. But give me a bit of your time, and I may change your mind.

**Which King Boo?:**

For this little speculation piece, I'll be focusing on what I believe to be the canonical King Boo: the one from the Luigi's Mansion series. The King Boo in sunshine is just a byproduct of Bowser Jr's nifty paintbrush, as evidenced by him exploding into goop once defeated. And the King Boo that shows up in the spin-off games doesn't appear to be the genuine article. He has a more generic design, and if you remove the crown he looks exactly the same as any other boo. So my theory is that that King Boo is a stand-in, since the real one obviously can't rule because he was trapped in a painting.

**What is a boo?:**

Now if we wanna decipher who King Boo is, we'll have to first try and see what he has in common with all other boos. What is the deciding factor between becoming a boo, or a normal ghost? You'd immediately think that deciding factor is mischief. That boos are special because they were troublemakers in life. And while that is very true, that's not an exclusive trait. Many other ghosts in the series cause chaos and disorder. But that's okay, because there's a much more likely answer: moral weakness. The boos aren't exactly the nicest of people. As the fake King Boo mentions in Super Mario 64 DS, he "loves scaring wimpy humans". These spirits aren't just pranksters, they're evil. Yeah, big surprise, King Boo is evil. But it does narrow down the suspects quite a bit.

**The evidence:**

This King Boo sadly doesn't get a lot of screen time, which is what makes pinning down who he is a hard task. Especially since his dialogue doesn't really provide much detail in that regard. But let's list the things we can say for sure that we know about him. King Boo is, again, a bad guy. One that unlike Bowser, never really shows good intentions at all. His demeanor is almost always cool and composed. He's smart. Able to hatch the scheme to capture Mario, and succeeding. Something he _did _need the help of his fellow spirits to do, but this guy is leagues above anything The Koopa King has ever thought up. He has met Mario in the past, stating he finds his fate satisfying, "especially considering all the trouble he caused him in the past". There is one time he loses his temper however, and it's visible in a scene where he sees Luigi is still alive, despite the dangers of the mansion. He has the pride befitting of a king. His speech prior to the final boss of the original game reflects as much. Similarly, he openly tells Luigi he plans to turn him and E. Gadd into paintings themselves. May seem insignificant, but the fact he wants his enemies to know what he's gonna do to them shows his confidence in carrying out said threats. And finally, while his beef started off with Mario, he is aware of Luigi, since the fake letter was addressed to him. But more importantly, he also knows who Bowser is. Enough to possess him, in fact. (No. That Bowser is not a robot. If it was, there would be gears, or some sort of metallic shine to indicate such.)

**The candidates:**

So let's go through the options, shall we? Obviously King Boo is NOT Bowser. It's true that he could control his body, but if King Boo and Bowser have shown up in the same game multiple times. And not just with the fake one, either. You can see in the gold ranked painting of King Boo, that it depicts him and Bowser facing each other, as if having a conversation. So who can we think of? Well, as stupid as it may seem, Waluigi was the first to come to mind. No, really, it sounds stupid, but it does have some merit. Waluigi's anarchistic personality coincides with the king's general thrill in disorder. We're talking about a ghost who before the final battle in Dark Moon, tried summoning so many ghosts that it almost split the fabric of reality apart. But no, he isn't King Boo. Even if we assume he somehow died before the events of Luigi's Mansion, he's not as smart, nor as diabolical as King Boo. Plus, his rivalry with Luigi would be a dead giveaway, whereas our ghoulish ruler mostly views Luigi as a minor inconvenience in the original game. So what about Kamek? His experiences with magic would explain KB's affinity for enchanted headwear, and the trouble he claims Mario caused him could be in reference to all the times he defeated Bowser, and forced him to revive him. And as a bonus, his fangs are a perfect match for King Boo's in his original appearance: two pointy fangs. And since he has been around since Bowser was a baby, he must be pretty old by now. But no, he's not our guy either. Kamek has a well documented history of being pushed too far quite easily. And when he is, it's very plain to see. Not at all like our composed specter.

BUT...! There is one person who meets all the criteria. One individual, who while he was introduced way past King Boo's conception, would make perfect sense to become him.

**My proposal:**

I believe that King Boo's true name... is Antasma. That's right! The Bat King, Antasma. The main antagonist of Mario Luigi: Dream Team. This guy is exactly what we're looking for. First of all, look at his appearance: the sharp teeth, the mask-like shade around his eyes, the creepy smile he always has on, it seems like a perfect fit. While his way of speaking is different to some degree, because he pronounces some letters with a "V", it's reasonable to assume he could have kicked this habit after he died. Oh yeah, did I mention he LITERALLY dies on screen? And his body bloats into a shape that resembles a boo before he does so! His personality is exactly the same, and he knows Bowser from their brief partnership. It is true that Bowser and King Boo appear to be on good terms, whereas Antasma was betrayed by Bowser at the last minute, but I see that as Antasma simply utilizing him to take down the bigger threat of The Mario Bros. Or as he puts it... "I vill take him. But first I shall... TAKE YOU!" Even his view of the respective bros makes sense, because while Luigi played a huge role in his defeat, the entire time Antasma only ever saw one of them doing any actual fighting: Mario. As someone who could steal Luigi's power from you and trap him in one of his orbs during his boss fight, he probably wouldn't think too much about the guy. His title as a king, and his heavy lifting during his time working with Bowser would give him the kingly pride our little boo friend does. But that's just my theory.

**What about you?**

Please, leave me a review. Tell me if you were convinced by my logic. Do you think King Boo is Antasma, or is he someone else? And if you haven't seen my previous story regarding Luigi's Mansion, I encourage you to give it a read. Thank you for reading, and have a Happy Halloween.


End file.
